In Harmony
by Mochi-hime
Summary: She yearns for perfection, but her heart feels empty. Will he be the missing puzzle piece to her life? AU. Violinist!Sakura and Pianist!Sasuke. Sasusaku with slight Naruhina.
1. Chapter 1

I've been thinking of writing Sakura as a violinist and Sasuke as a pianist for a while now... (it's just such a beautiful idea I mean SASUKE + PIANO /cries) And I finally wrote Chapter 1! Updates might be a bit slow since I'm pretty busy these days.

Oh, the song that Sakura is playing at the beginning of the story is _Introduction and Tarantelle_ by Sarasate, and the piece that Sakura hears Hinata playing is _Concertino_ by Chaminade. You can find both of the youtube links on my profile.

Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

_I. Allegro_

She wasn't perfect. She understood; nobody was. But sometimes her slender fingers would press the wrong notes or tangle over trills and she would feel…_empty_ inside. Something was missing. She didn't know whether it was perfection or something more, but it didn't feel right. _Was it supposed to?_

She felt hundreds of eyes boring into her hands, her arms, the multitudes of slips and sweaty palms. Her mind unconsciously took in all of the gray faces watching her illuminated form sway to her music, and her chest rose and fell with a ragged breath. _Flow with the music. One, two, three. One, two, three._The notes ingrained in her heart danced in a fluttering staccato, her fingers straining to keep with the beat. _One, two, three. One, two, three._

With a light toss of her petal pink hair, she ended her piece with a flourish and plastered a smile on her rosy lips. Bowing to meet the applause of her audience, she padded lightly to exit the stage with her cheeks still burning with heat.

_She had played, they had applauded. She had stumbled, they had never noticed. But why did she still feel incomplete?_

She rushed into her small practice room backstage, everything seeming blurry and unreal. Her violin was placed neatly in its case as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. In, out. In, out. It was over. Finally over.

"Sakura."

She turned to look into the gentle eyes of her master.

"Shishou." Ashamed at herself, ashamed at her fingers—Sakura balled her hands into fists, nails digging into palms. "I'm sorry. I should have practiced harder."

The blond woman sighed as she placed a hand on her pupil's shoulder. Of course, as a mentor, she had been strict about her playing at times, but this girl was putting too much pressure on herself.

"Sakura," she repeated, catching emerald orbs with her brown ones. "It's over. Don't dwell on the past." Noticing the teen continuously wiping her hands on her plum-colored dress, she shook her head slightly. She could already guess what had happened. She had been nervous. Her fingers had slipped. And it all had gone downhill from there. _A violinist's worst problem…_

"Your stage fright."

Sakura looked up at her teacher quizzically. "Tsunade-shishou…?"  
"Overcome it." Once soft brown eyes turned as hard as steel in a matter of a second. "If you want to become a better violinist, don't get nervous when playing in front of an audience." Tsunade's grip on Sakura's shoulder became firm, and she continued to stare into her eyes. "That's what you want, don't you? To become one of the best."

Sakura swallowed, a heavy lump suddenly forming in her throat. _Yes_, she wanted to say. _Yes._ But her mouth couldn't form the words. They felt strange and foreign on her tongue, and her heart felt heavy with guilt. '_That's what I want, right? I'm not lying._' Was she?

Tsunade frowned slightly at her motionless student. She seemed to be going through some trouble. Sakura had always been a hard-working student. She had been the leading violinist of her class and had won many awards for her performances. To others, no matter what she did, she was always Sakura, the prodigy, the genius, the girl-who-could. Tsunade could sense more than that. Though she had enormous potential, underneath her glowing exterior, she was self-conscious. Unconfident. Self-critical. She just covered all these parts of hers with practice, thinking that she could erase them if she spent enough time with her fingers hovering over a fingerboard.

The woman closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. Turning on her heel, she marched out of the room, stopping just outside the door. "I'm still proud of you for being able to play in this concert. As I told you, it's only for the most talented musicians in Konoha." She looked over her shoulder, her lips curving upwards a fraction. "If you want, we could listen to some of these people play, then."

Sakura couldn't help but offer a tiny smile, in spite of the internal turmoil she was facing. Maybe she could forget about her goal, just for now. Maybe she could open her mind to listen to others for once, not just herself. She nodded and proceeded to follow the busty woman to the concert hall once again.

* * *

A faint but beautiful melody reached her ears as Sakura neared the concert hall with her mentor. _'A flute… But it's not ordinary.'_

Eyebrows slightly raised in curiosity, she silently stepped onto a balcony overlooking the stage, following Tsunade. Lifting the hem of her long dress and blowing a few strands of hair out of her eyes, the girl squinted to adjust her eyes to the sudden brightness in front of her. _The stage. She had stood there just moments before._

The lilting tune increased in volume and clarity as Sakura leaned over the edge of the balcony, trying to catch a better view of the performer. She recognized the melody as a piece she had heard many times before, a piece she had caught her mother humming on numerous occasions.

The flautist was an ebony-haired girl who looked about the same age as herself. Her pale blue dress seemed to shimmer as she moved to her music, looking completely at ease in the glare of the stage lights. Her features were not clearly visible from this distance, but Sakura could tell she was a quite attractive girl.

But how, _how in the world_, did she make it look so easy? How did she stand on that stage, in front of a large crowd of people, and play like there was no one else in the room? Her flute glinted in the lights and her fingers flew over the keys, producing ethereal sounds that could only be described as captivating. Her music seemed to draw the audience in, capturing their attention and locking their gazes on her, and only her. Her perfomance had some kind of hypnotic ability to grab others' minds and never let go. Sakura found herself sinking into the music, swaying slightly to the rhythm. Her eyes closed and a smile crept up her face, the melody conjuring sweet images of sunflower fields and refreshing scents of dawn, the bright days of summer and ice cream melting on her tongue.

And as quick as it came, the spell was broken with ear-shattering applause, a subtle wiping of tears, a standing ovation. Sakura stood along with the people around her, smiling, clapping, convincing herself that she no longer mattered.

As she sat back down in her seat, Tsunade leaned towards her and motioned for her to come closer.

"Her name's Hinata Hyuga. Prodigious flautist, I've heard." She stared as the Hyuga exited the stage. "I've also heard that she's from a very wealthy family."

Sakura's eyes dulled. All of these people were extraordinary. "Shishou, why was _I_, of all people, selected to play here? I don't even have anything special about me." She bowed her head. "So why…?"

The woman beside her was silent for a moment. Polite applause resounded around them as the next performers took their spots on the stage, Sakura still staring down at her clasped hands and white knuckles.

"Maybe it was fate."

A cello began to play.

* * *

_A/N: Who is playing the cello? Was it really fate that brought Sakura to the concert? Heheh, sorry to leave you with the abrupt ending. How is it? Should I go on? Sakura is a bit of a perfectionist... and I'm sorry for not introducing Sasuke in this chapter either. I know it was tedious. But you know how introductions go. Sasuke will be introduced in the next chapter... hopefully._

_Well, thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

Updated! Thank you for all the kind reviews on my first chapter! I really appreciate the time you guys took to actually give me suggestions and compliments! Thank you thank you~ T^T_  
_

This chapter is in Sasuke's point of view, unlike the previous chapter, which was in Sakura's point of view. It's basically occurring at the same time as Chapter 1, except this time, you'll get to read it in a different perspective.

Enjoy, and reviews would be most appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

_II. Moderato_

"Oi! Teme! How do I look?"

Sasuke Uchiha sighed as he turned to face the blonde, who was currently posing comically in front of a full-length mirror.

"Hn. Ridiculous. Shouldn't you be warming up, Naruto?"

Naruto stuck out a tongue at his best friend, straightening his tuxedo jacket and looking smug. "I already did. And you know I don't make mistakes that easily, ttebayo!"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke sank into a chair in their private practice room backstage. _'How annoying. Why did_ we _have to get chosen to play in this stupid concert?'_

He straighted his tie half-heartedly, knowing that he was too skilled to be in a small concert like this. He was supposed to be playing somewhere more prestigious, not in a concert hall in a tiny and insignificant city like Konoha. He was a prodigious pianist, for kami's sake. There wasn't a person in Japan who was as skilled as he was._ 'If I had it my way, I would be playing solo in Carnegie right now.'_ He_ was _going to have it his way. Soon.

Sasuke stretched out his hands, relishing in the satisfying warmth that rushed into them. Fluttering his fingertips over his lap, he practiced some basic scales to warm up.

"Sasuke! When do we go on stage again?!"

The addressed Uchiha groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with two long fingers._ 'Why am I playing with this idiot again?'_

"I told you more than ten times already. After the Hyuga girl, dobe."

Naruto frowned and crinkled his nose. "Wha…? I guess I forgot, heheh." He scratched the back of his head, grinning abashedly. "Hey! We should go out there and watch, dattebayo! Who's playing right now?"

Sasuke picked up a program lying on a table and rifled through it. "Some person named Shikamaru Nara is playing the koto. Two people until our turn."

"Yeaaah, I've heard of the Shikamaru-guy somewhere… He's a genius or whatever. But let's go watch! I'm curious." Naruto snatched the program out of Sasuke's hands and scanned it with sharp eyes. "Hinata's piece is pretty long, so we'll have just enough time to listen to the person before her, and then we can rush here to get ready!"

"Can't we just stay in here and warm up—"

"Don't be a bad sport, ttebayo! We're going to go watch!" The hyper blonde pumped a fist in the air and grabbed a horrified Sasuke's hand, despite colorful words and angry protests. "Let's go!"

* * *

With a final reverbrating note, the concert hall lapsed into silence. No one dared to breathe. Not a single word was spoken, and mouths opened slightly at the beauty of it all. The Nara closed his eyes, seeming to revel in the seemingly eternal peace.

But of course, a certain whiskered man just had to break the spell.

"Bravo!" The Uzumaki stood up, clapping spiritedly for the performer, with Sasuke facepalming exasperatedly at his side. "That was great, dattebayo!"

As if he had triggered some sort of chain reaction, the audience slowly stood up and clapped along with him, snapping to their senses. They were strangely moved by this enthusiasm, and a few smiles were flashed in Naruto's direction. Roses were thrown, wolf-whistles heard, a bow taken—and it was over. The stage was dark and empty once again.

"I wonder who the next person is! Who is it? Sasuke!" Naruto bounced in his seat, trying to steal the concert program from Sasuke's hold.

"Shut up, dobe! I'm looking!" Sasuke whispered, fervently trying to make out the tiny print in the dark. "I can't read this! It's too—"

Applause sounded around the duo and a spotlight focused on the center of the stage. Sasuke slowly brought his eyes up to find an openly gaping Naruto.

"Woah, her hair's a weird color!"

The Uchiha was just about to make a pointed comment on how Naruto always focused on unnecessary things when- he saw it. A flash of pink.

_'What…?' _

This girl had pink hair, for kami's sake. Short pink hair that was tied up into a neat ponytail at the back of her head. What kind of hair color was that? Who_ in the world_ had pink hair?

The next thing Sasuke noticed about her was her startlingly green eyes. He had never seen such a clear green before. In all honesty, he had never seen anyone with green eyes in Konoha, either. The girl screamed peculiarity in every way possible._ 'Is she a foreigner?'  
_Sasuke watched with rapt attention as she rested a violin on her shoulder. The audience's murmurs died down as she nodded to her piano accompanist.

_Tempo. Moderato. Four-four time._

As the first chords echoed around the concert hall, the girl seemed to relax and plaster a small smile on her lips. She lifted her bow and placed it on her strings, taking a deep breath at the same time. The first G was magical. It struck the hearts of the audience with its mellow tone, and caused a warmth to creep up their backbones with a vibration they had never felt before. '_This girl…_'

Her fingers moved gracefully across the strings as she coaxed wonderful sounds out of what seemed like a tiny box of wood. _His_ fingers twitched to move themselves across a black and white keyboard, desiring to produce beautiful music of their own. The crowd listened with wide eyes as the tempo accelerated, the violinist's bow moving rapidly across the strings.

_Tempo. Allegro Vivace. Two-four time._

"Hn…" Sasuke smirked as he detected a note slightly off-tune. Mistakes could not escape his sharp ears. Glancing at the girl, he noticed she had her brow slightly furrowed and eyes narrowed in concentration. _'So she knows.'_

As ridiculously high notes rang through the room, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly. Even through her subtle slips, he had to admit, she was _good_. She had potential. It didn't seem like she was an avid performer, though. She seemed to be holding back; something was unusually taut in her form and playing. Sasuke could practically see her discomfort, the tiny sweat droplets on her upper lip. No, she was definitely not a skilled performer.

He glanced at Naruto, whose cerulean eyes looked like they were boring holes into the stage. His mouth opened and closed, making him look like some giant guppy. Sasuke sighed and put a hand to his forehead.

"Pst! Naruto! We should get ready now." Sasuke poked the blonde's shoulder, annoyed that he clearly wasn't responding. "Oi!"

"Eh… What? It's our turn?" Naruto turned slightly towards him, eyes still fixed on the pinkette.

"No, but we need to warm up." Sasuke scooted a bit forward in his seat, just realizing that he had already been sitting on the edge of his chair. "Hurry, baka!"

The girl ended her piece with a final chord, earning a standing ovation from all sides of the hall. Naruto jolted out of his seat, looking like he had just awoken from a dream.

"Ah, shit! It's our turn after Hinata! Hurry up, teme!"

The great Uchiha was once again towed behind the other male, all the while muttering about idiocy and "damn pink-haired girls".

_'It's going to be a long day.'_

* * *

_A/N: So. How was this chapter? Too long? Too short? Boring? I'm sorry if the story is progressing a bit slowly, but the next chapters will surely have some Sasuke x Sakura interaction in them..._

_Is anyone wondering what Naruto has anything to do with the storyline? If you are, his role will be shown... later in the story. ^^ _

_I will try to update as quickly as possible, but I can't guarantee it. _

_Thanks for reading!_


End file.
